Who Was Kiwi Herring? The Transgender Woman Was Fatally Shot By St. Louis Police

On Thursday night, the nation's attention turned to St. Louis, Missouri, after a car drove into a crowd of protesters at a vigil for a transgender woman who was fatally shot by the police. But who was Kiwi Herring, the woman who was the focus of the vigil? Herring, a 30-year-old black trans woman, was killed by police in the early hours of Tuesday morning, reportedly after a knife attack.

According to the police, the altercation with Herring was in response to a report of a domestic disturbance. The police say they found Herring, featuring multiple slash marks, holding a large kitchen knife, next to her similarly wounded spouse, 28-year-old Kristy Thompson. The police say that Herring slashed at the officers, leading to the police officers shooting back and killing Herring. One of the officers sustained knife wounds from the incident.

Some have expressed less doubt about what might have happened, but believe that the police may have acted impulsively in a situation they could have deescalated without the use of deadly force. Other mourners, without doubting what happened, treat Herring's death as a tragedy nonetheless, remembering her for who she was in her life, and maintaining solidarity with the transgender community as it loses another life.

The feelings of mourning at Wednesday night's vigil were made all themore difficult for those assembled after a car rammed through the crowd, calling to mind the actions of a white supremacist two weeks ago in Charlottesville, Virginia that led to the death of a woman, Heather Heyer.